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Eldan
2016-07-07, 08:09 AM
So, I have a new group, and since it was very short term, I'm running a modified pre-made adventure. Death in Freeport. All fine for the most part, there's a priest missing, I gave the group a better reason to find him, it's tied into the plot, etc. It's mostly fine.

At the end, however, the party has to investigate a cult lair and stop a ritual. You know, classic stuff. Getting there, however, is a bit boring. THere's jsut a few dank rooms and some generic fights against skeletons and so on. I want to make that a bit more interesting, it's a very generic dungeon.

The cult in question is not the serpent/King in Yellow cult from the adventure, I've substituted my own with a bit more of a world connection. They worship what is essentially a fusion of Kyuss, the Worm God and Nidhögger, from Nordic mythology. A giant, worm- or serpentlike entity associated with darkness, undeath and entropy who lives underground, causes earthquakes and slowly eats away at the foundations of the world.

What would a cult associated with that have in their creepy underground lair, apart from dank tunnels? Preferably things that are a bit of an obstacle to the party, but don't necessarily have to end in combat. I'm a bit stumped, really.

ClintACK
2016-07-07, 12:18 PM
The number of different creatures in D&D lore encompassing worms, snakes, and undeath are virtually unlimited. From the Rot Grub to the Purple Worm... Nagas... Yuan-ti...


Perhaps the cult throws sacrifices to a Purple Worm, which is content to lie dormant beneath the temple so long as the sacrifices keep coming...

Do they have a pit filled with large worms that strip the flesh from the corpses they toss in?

A Bone Naga seems triply thematic -- it's an unholy, undead snake creature.

Gricks and Carrion Crawlers would also work.


But if you're looking for *non-combat* thematic obstacles...

- *Tame* Carrion Crawlers. They won't actually attack the party -- just approach, waving their tentacles, expecting to be fed. If the party attacks, of course...

- A tunnel blocked off by the side of a giant snake or worm -- it's moving past in a cross passage. If the party waits 1d10 rounds, the tail will pass, and they can continue down the tunnel. If they wait 1d4+3 rounds, the head will appear, and might attack them. The creature is trapped in the cross passage and can't come out to pursue the party.

- Skeleton snakes. (Perhaps a snake pit filled with them? Since they can't climb out, the party isn't actually in danger as long as they don't jump/fall in.)

- Skeletons in open caskets against the walls, wearing fine hooded robes, with worms crawling in and out of openings in their skulls. (Not animated undead. Just skeletal remains. The cultists fill the skull cavities with food for the worms to keep the effect going.)

- Black candles that absorb light. Turn light into shadowy illumination in 5' range, magical darkness about 6 inches. Only work while lit, and burn down just like normal candles.

- Gricks on chains like guard dogs -- line the walls of a wide tunnel, but can't quite reach the 5' wide safe path down the middle. (Or a more complicated curving path through a larger cavern?)

- A maze of 4' diameter tunnels -- like wormholes -- twisting in all directions. Most of the party will have to stoop, and they might be worried about the creature that made it, but nothing appears. Dust in the unused dead-ends and side tunnels should let the party find the right way through with a DC10 Survival check or a DC15 Investigation check. (Or you can throw something minor like a Swarm of Poisonous Snakes at the party while they're squeezing through this area and unable to pass by each other... Making the lead or trail party member fight it solo (with disadvantages -- see Squeezing, PHB pg. 192) while the rest of the party is mostly helpless can be dramatic.)

Eldan
2016-07-07, 02:53 PM
ooh, I like those. Black Candles sound very nice. The players might even like to steal some. The bone naga is a bit above expected level, but I'm keeping it in mind. I'll have a worm pit and some tame monsters, too.

THEChanger
2016-07-07, 03:17 PM
Thoqqua (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/thoqqua.htm) called to help tunnel and excavate? They're pretty worm-like, and are weird enough that a lot of people have never heard of them. They're not evil or unholy in any capacity, but they can be reskinned into...the undead remains of a serpent sacrificed in dark flame? Or, the cult is just using Thoqqua because they're convenient. They don't attack the party, because they weren't called to defend anything, they were called to tunnel. But getting close to them can be dangerous, and adding a few Thoqqua who are just minding their own business in the middle of a fight could be interesting.

Eldan
2016-07-07, 03:59 PM
I might actually make a bit of a joke out of it. The party gets the location of the lair from a young, nervous and pretty naive acolyte. I might just set it up that he was only told the most difficult and dangerous way in as a test and there's a more convenient one. Test for acolytes.

Works for a puzzle-encounter, too: guard Grigs, with areas of the floor marked in different ways. If you follow the correct path, the Grigs can't get you.

There's another Elder Evil in my campaign that is associated with fire and an enemy of the one worshipped by this cult, so the Thoqqua wouldn't fit, really.

HatMadder
2016-07-10, 05:28 AM
Excellent suggestions above, I'll try to add new ideas into the mix.

Terrain can be a good way to get the message across. Since the cultists worship a worm god, have most of the ground be loose dirt full of worms.
Players sink into the ground down to shins, making it very hard to get around quickly. Combine this with combat, stuff moving through the dirt, or skeletons attacking from on top of the dirt (light enough not to sink), and it's going to make it hard for the party to get into the inner chambers.

A couple feet of loose dirt can also double as cover for a hidden entrance. Have to allow yourself to sink, then dig until you hit some steps. The dirt will taper off and they're in a corridor leading further into cult territory.


If you want to avoid the difficult terrain modifiers, paint the walls as having worms squirming throughout them. No stone walls carved from a mountain, just lightly packed dirt holding untold amounts of worms, and potentially other hidden monstrosities.

Demidos
2016-07-10, 05:31 AM
Quicksand-esque dirt comes to mind.

Ninja-d...

A seperate suggestion is related to the earlier suggestions of untold quantities of worms squirming through the dirt -- have the cultists use them as an elevator, where one has to step into the writhing curtain of worms which will then carry the person through various layers of the base. Of course, stepping in LOOKS like just getting drowned to death in worms (which, to be fair, you may or may not have to hold your breath for).